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SFUSD staff present mixed results on literacy and math; commissioners press for clearer implementation metrics
Summary
District staff reported a small decline in third‑grade ELA proficiency, modest gains in eighth‑grade math and flatness on some college‑and‑career indicators, and emphasized implementation fidelity, coaching and stable leadership. Commissioners sought clearer metrics tying investments to outcomes and asked for ROI analyses on coaching and technology pilots.
District staff presented a progress‑monitoring workshop on Goals 1–3, summarizing summative and interim indicators and describing plans to sharpen implementation measures.
Moon Hak Kim, manager of research and evaluation, led the presentation and described a 1.4‑percentage‑point decline in the district’s third‑grade SBAC ELA proficiency rate versus two years earlier, modest (about 1 percentage‑point) growth in eighth‑grade math proficiency and mixed results on college‑and‑career readiness indicators. Staff identified “bright spots” at schools that implemented new curricula and instructional leadership practices with fidelity and said that some focal student groups showed meaningful gains (with caveats about small sample sizes).
Staff emphasized that first‑year adoption of new ELA and math curricula can produce uneven short‑term results as teachers learn new materials and routines, noting literature examples where similar dips occurred during early implementation. They said success depends on ongoing professional learning, stable leadership teams and coaching that supports classroom practice. Moon Hak Kim (speaker 12) told the board, “Implementation as much as we try is uneven across the district, and even within sites,” and urged time to build teacher familiarity and fidelity.
Student delegates asked practical questions about expanding dual enrollment for small high schools and about the nature of an AI‑driven math tutoring platform (described by staff as personalized practice and feedback that supports process, not a simple answer‑giving tool). The district said it is piloting an AI tutoring program in algebra/geometry courses through an EdTech partner with an associated Gates‑funded research relationship and has loaded the app into students’ Clever portals for participating courses.
Commissioners pressed for clearer measures of cause and effect: which investments (coaches, curriculum, software) produce the greatest yield for focal students, how retention of instructional staff is being tracked, and how the district will demonstrate return on investment. Staff said the district has research partnerships (including with Stanford) underway to evaluate coaching models and the algebra pilots, and pledged to bring more specific implementation and ROI metrics in subsequent monitoring reports.
The presentation closed with board members agreeing to follow up on targeted implementation metrics and to align budget choices to the programs that show evidence of moving the needle for focal students.
